Frelan
------

Every day it was the same thing.  He woke up and saw the same greyish 
walls and white sheets as the day before.  Same cast covering him from 
toes to hip.  Same antiseptic smells.  Same food.  Same everything.

Even *she* was the same.

Every time he saw her walk into the room, his hopes would rise and he'd 
feel that excited bubble rise in the pit of his stomach.  Every time his 
hopes would be dashed as soon as she opened her mouth and he realized it 
wasn't who he thought it was.

It'd been three months that he'd been at Xylian Warren.  The first month 
he'd spent fighting a fever, shifting in and out of conciousness.  The 
illness he'd received combined with the concussion from the harsh blow of 
Gerard's soldiers had nearly killed him.  Infection had made him 
dilerious with fever.

The first time he'd tried to stand up had been a disaster.  He didn't 
realize he'd be so lightheaded, jumping out of bed when he thought he saw 
*her*.  In his bare feet he'd hit the cold floor, tearing the IV from his 
arm accidentally, spilling the clear saline liquid everywhere.

He'd slipped and lost his footing, falling onto the hard stone of the 
floor and breaking his leg in two places.  This brought back his fever, 
then his infection.  

The Healers kept him in bed despite his protests for another two months.  
They claimed to not be taking any chances, especially since the snow had 
been falling for most of that time.

So here he lay, still in the ward with a dozen or so other patients. Half 
of them were refugees from Lotherra, like himself.  The boredom was 
maddening, but he'd rather be bored than think of the carnage they'd left 
behind.  Thoughts of his slaughtered family and ravaged home only 
depressed him more.

He looked forward to the day when *she* would come visit him.  Every day 
he watched the door.  Every day he was disappointed when she didn't appear.

Today was no different.

A brown-haired figure wearing work pants and a jacket walked into the 
room.  Hope filled him as he watched her.  She stopped and spoke with the 
Healer on duty, a slow smile crossing her features.  Turning, she moved 
to approach his bedside.  His heart lept into his throat.

"Hi there," she said, pulling a chair over.

Realizing who it was, he flopped back on the pillows and grunted a 
greeting, folding his arms across his chest.  He didn't try to hide his 
disappointment.

Halyn snorted with amusement, "Well, it's nice to see you too."

Frelan rolled his eyes, "Gimme a break, Haly."

She sat down in the chair, propping her feet up on the side of his cot, 
"You need to cheer up.  This pouting of yours is really not like you."

He struggled to get comfortable for a moment, giving up with a sigh as 
Halyn leaned forward to prop his leg up with a pillow.  He frowned, "You 
and I both know what needs to happen for me to cheer up."

"I know, Frelan," Halyn sighed.  She regarded him closely for a moment.  
She'd known this young man most of her lifetime.  They'd been part of the 
same group of friends growing up.  He'd always been the one with the 
easiest smile.  The one who cheered everyone else up.  The tallest and 
the strongest and the fastest runner.  The first to help in any given 
situation.

Now he looked pale and gaunt for lack of fresh air.  His eyes had dark 
circles under them and she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him 
smile.

After a moments thought, she realized he did smile once.  The first time 
he'd been awake and alert enough to recognize her.  But he didn't think 
he was seeing her at all.  He thought he was seeing Iralyn.  

He no longer bothered to hide his disappointment when she came into the 
room, even though she knew he appreciated the company.  They'd been best 
friends for a very long time.  The only secret he'd ever kept from her 
was his feelings for her twin sister.  That secret was one only Frelan 
and Iralyn had shared.

Halyn cleared her throat and forced a smile, "Well, I have a bit of good 
news for you."

Tucking his hands behind his head, Frelan regarded his friend curiously, 
"Oh, really?"  As if anything could cheer him up at this point.

She nodded, gesturing to the Healer who was now approaching them with 
some sort of saw, "I was just told that they're going to remove your cast 
today."

Coming up behind Halyn, Nineve chuckled in agreement, "That's right.  
You're about to have your freedom, young man."  She set some bandages 
down at the foot of the bed and gestured for Halyn to step out of the way.

Frelan looked fron Nineve to Halyn and back again.  A slow grin began to 
spread over his face, "You mean... I won't have to stay in bed any more?"

Nineve shook her head, "We were only keeping you here because the snow 
had fallen and we didn't want you to fall on your cast or crutches.   
Besides," she began to saw as she spoke, "you healed much faster this way."

Halyn stood back and watched as the Healer sawed on Frelan's cast-clad 
leg.  Frelan's mood suddenly brightened as he held his pajamas out of the 
way of the saw.

"This is great, Haly!  Now I'll get to see the Warren... and all the 
dragons... and I'll be able to find Iralyn on my own..." His eyes 
sparkled in anticipation, "If she won't come to me, then I'll go to her!"

Halyn smiled and nodded mutely, thinking to herself that this was just 
what Frelan needed... and Iralyn as well.

Iralyn
------

Iralyn laughed as Coriandreth popped out right in front of her, sending 
an explosion of snow up to cover the new dragonrider from head to toe.  
She and M'tok had been playing hide and seek with their dragons on the 
green for half of the morning.

M'tok.  Iralyn turned and scanned the whiteness of the bowl, finding 
M'tok near his magenta dragon, rolling in the snow in a wrestle-fest.  
The dragon was obviously winning, but M'tok's laughter reached her ears 
and brought a smile to her face.

<Why do you smile so?>

Turning to Coriandreth, the dappled green dragon returned her gaze with a 
loving croon, shaking snow off her head.

*It's nice to see how happy M'tok is.  That's all.  I'm glad he's become 
my friend.*

<I am glad too.  I like it when you're happy.>

Putting a gloved hand up to touch her dragon, Iralyn's gaze went back to 
M'tok.  As her mind wandered, his features changed.  White-blonde hair 
was replaced by midnight black.  His smile became an easy one showing 
straight white teeth.  He seemed to grow before her, becoming an inch or 
two taller.

As the memories flooded Iralyn's mind, so did the warmth and longing that 
she felt. Wrapping her arms around herself in a hug, she sighed dreamily.

<All you have to do is go see him, you know.>

Coriandreth voice entered her mind and the image faded back into the 
blondeness of M'tok.  The smile left Iralyn's face.

*I know.*

<Why don't you go to see him?  He wants to see you.>

"How would you know that, Cori?" Iralyn asked aloud, glowering at her 
dragon for pointing out the obvious.

Coriandreth's snorted, pulling her bulk out of the snow <Your clutchmate 
told me.  Just like she's told you a hundred times.>

Iralyn sighed, rubbing her arms to warm them up a bit, "I know, I 
know..." She muttered, trying not to remember the confusion on Halyn's 
face when she'd told her twin that she wasn't ready to see Frelan yet.

Frelan.  By the shell, she loved him.  She loved him with every fiber of 
her being.

And she'd accepted the fact that they would no longer be together the day 
she'd left Lotherra to come to Xylian Warren.

With Coriandreth's help, she'd learned to live with that fact.  She'd 
grown in a different direction.  She was growing into a strong, sure 
Dragonrider.  The unsure, chubby girl she'd been when she'd arrived, 
clinging to her twin sister like a security blanket was barely a memory.

She was becoming a person she'd only dreamed about.   Together, she and 
Coriandreth were one.  She was learning with the rest of her class.  
She'd realized that the only person she had to depend on in this life was 
herself.  

She'd experienced the joy of joining with a dragon.  The joy of watching 
that dragon grow.  The joy of seeing that dragon take to the air for the 
very first time.  And the exhilaration of flying with that dragon.

M'tok understood that.  M'tok knew what she was feeling.  Could Frelan 
ever understand?

Iralyn was startled out of her reverie by a snowball hitting her square 
in the face.  Sputtering, she wiped off enough snow to see M'tok's 
lopsided grin.  He waggled his eyebrows and called out, "Gotcha!"

"Oh you!"  She charged forward, gathering snow as she went.  For now, her 
confusion forgotten.

<*TAG!*  Anyone up for a snowball fight?!>

Respectfully submitted,

--Lisa (Halyn, Iralyn and Coriandreth)